Washington hires new COO, increasing speculation that team president could be on the way out

Posted by Mike Florio on May 16, 2018, 5:57 PM EST

Getty Images

The top of the organization in Washington is getting a little crowded.

Owner Daniel Snyder has added league office executive Brian LaFemina as COO and President of Business Operations. In that role, LaFemina will oversee all club business operations and report directly to Snyder.

“I am thrilled to welcome Brian to the Washington Redskins,” Snyder said in a team-issued statement. “Brian has been one of the most highly regarded NFL executives amongst league ownership for many years because of his deep understanding of our business, his focus on partner relationships and his genuine belief that fans must be at the center of every decision we make. Brian is coming to Washington with fresh thinking and big ideas to implement, and I have full confidence that with Brian’s addition and with Bruce Allen continuing as team President, the Redskins’ success will continue to grow, both on and off the field.”

LaFemina said in the same press release that Snyder approached LaFemina “about a year ago” to discuss the possibility of hiring him.

“Working with Dan and Bruce to develop a new, dynamic stadium that matches the vibrancy of this organization and its fan base will be an exciting challenge and one of our top priorities,” LaFemina said.

The fact that LaFemina will report directly to Snyder (and that the press release contains no quote from Allen) suggests that Allen at a minimum has been undermined by the move, and at most could be on the way out. Indeed, if Allen were getting done everything he needs to get done, as the president of the team, there would be no need to hire a President of Business Operations/COO who reports directly to Snyder.

The fact that the discussions with LaFemina began roughly a year ago hints that Snyder possibly began looking for someone to do many of the things Allen was doing at roughly the same time as Allen clumsily fired G.M. Scot McCloughan and took plenty of flak from fans and the media for chasing a successful football executive from the organization on dubious grounds, at best.

Thus, the move will serve only to fuel speculation that Allen will indeed be leaving, possibly for the Raiders. (Allen has denied that he’s returning to Oakland.) At the time Russ Brandon abruptly resigned from the Bills, some in league circles said that there had been rumors that Snyder was trying to lure Brandon from Buffalo.

Regardless, there’s now a new high-level executive in Washington whose job duties seem to immediately overlap with Allen’s. If the organizational chart isn’t big enough for both of them, Allen indeed could be leaving, either voluntary or otherwise.

“Allen clumsily fired G.M. Scot McCloughan and took plenty of flak from fans and the media for chasing a successful football executive from the organization on dubious grounds, at best”
———————————-

How exactly was it “dubious”? Dude was drunk on the job with MULTIPLE teams (Redskins, Seahawks & 49ers.) It was in his contract to stay sober during team functions and he couldn’t even do that. Don’t forget, Bruce Allen is close family friends with BOTH the father Kent and brother Dave. The last thing he wants to do was fire him as he was the only one to give Scot a THIRD chance in the NFL.

Hmmm, could it just be NFL teams are over-reaching in their new stadium pursuits and Dan Snyder doesn’t want to screw up like Dean Spanos or break the bank like Arthur Blank, so he’s hiring a dude to oversee that primarily?

Regardless, if Dan Snyder is behind it, it will underwhelm and disappoint.

Please oh please oh please let this news indicate that Bruce Allen’s days at Redskins Park are almost at an end. Then Snyder can finally promote Eric Schaffer to GM, which will be the smartest move will have ever made.

This has nothing to do with football and everything to do with the business side. You know, the side that took a huge season ticket waiting list and turned it into a stadium where they have had to remove half of the upper deck.

This guy will be out of there inside of 2 years. Anyone who has gone through there has come out wishing they’d never taken the job. Micromanager Danny just can’t keep his hands out of it.

llcamino says:
May 16, 2018 at 7:49 pm
This has nothing to do with football and everything to do with the business side. You know, the side that took a huge season ticket waiting list and turned it into a stadium where they have had to remove half of the upper deck.

This guy will be out of there inside of 2 years. Anyone who has gone through there has come out wishing they’d never taken the job. Micromanager Danny just can’t keep his hands out of it.

——————-

This has everything to do with football. It’s an admission by Snyder that he doesn’t know what he’s doing and that the guy he put in charge doesn’t know what he’s doing. This guy’s first job will be to put out the dumpster fire that is Bruce Allen.

Everyone likes to have a beer and play golf with Allen, I probably would too, But he is NOT good at football. The redskins deserve better. Danny sell the team. You could get over 2 BILLION dollars cash for them . Look at what the Panthers sold for.

“Working with Dan and Bruce to develop a new, dynamic stadium that matches the vibrancy of this organization and its fan base will be an exciting challenge and one of our top priorities,” Finding and building a new stadium should be on the bottom of their priorities and building a football team with players that are good and know how to play the game should be their top priority.

Just get the new stadium deal done out by the end of the Silver Line and be done with it. No need to play games about being at RFK site again, just have VA pay for it and sell the team for about 3-4 billion allowing a new ownership group to get the franchise on track to being a respectable football franchise competing for playoffs each season.